Quality of life in patients with vascular malformations of the lower extremity

With the exception of capillary malformations (port-wine stains), the adverse psychosocial effects of vascular malformations have not received much attention in the medical literature. We, therefore, studied health related quality of life of patients with vascular malformations located primarily on the lower extremity, who presented to us over a 10-year period. Patient's self-assessment of quality of life was measured by the Multiple Outcomes Study (MOS) Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36). Several possible predictors were also examined. Eighty-one patients (33 male, 48 female), aged 14-61 years, completed the SF-36. Seventy-one patients (88%) had a low flow lesion. Twenty-three patients (28%) had hypertrophy of the lower extremity, while 11 patients (14%) had hypotrophy. Sixty-nine patients (85%) had the vascular malformation located only on the lower extremity. Six (7%) also had their upper extremity (hand) involved, and 20 patients (24.7%) had >10% TBSA affected. Eight patients (10%) needed special shoes. Fifty-one patients (63%) had a previously performed MRI, of which 62.7% (32/51) had muscle involvement. Fifty-one patients (63%) had been operated on. Of the 34 patients wearing elastic compression stockings, 25 patients (74%) indicated that they were satisfied with the stockings. Compared to the general population sample, the SF-36 questionnaire indicated that our vascular malformation patients reported impaired vitality and higher levels of pain, while no differences were seen regarding the other dimensions of quality of life. Demographic, clinical and therapy characteristics could explain quality of life only to a limited extent. Explained variability of the SF-36 dimensions ranged from 0% for mental health to 34.5% for role functioning physical. To our surprise, this study suggests that patients with vascular malformations located primarily on the lower extremity do not have a greatly decreased quality of life when compared to the general Dutch population.